# A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 14, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537 "2020-11-14T00:09:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 406
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8107 "2022-12-14T13:45:29Z")
My very very longtime German friend (now living in Tokyo) says “ONE word for Unterdenautobusschmeissen? Impossible!” ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8108 "2022-12-14T16:20:40Z")
Uh…Treppenwitz is sadly English. He has watched these ideas develop with admiration; but he’s keeping his mouth firmly shut on this one. 😉 j ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8109 "2022-12-14T16:30:12Z")
Then we will have to call @EinsteinsHund to lend us hand! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8110 "2022-12-14T16:31:33Z")
Hey, I already made my suggestion in the other thread before we were told to cut the hijack: Unterdenbusschmeissopfer. ETA: though I wasn’t quite satisfied with this word. There has to be some way to work in “Bauernopfer”, because the people Trump threw under the bus were mostly that, pawns in his game (to allude to a Dylan song). ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8111 "2022-12-14T16:52:26Z")
@Pardel-Lux , @EinsteinsHund Great work, as I said, guys. I’ll be incautious here and offer a thought. Is part of the original American expression the idea that everyone - the “team” - is on the bus, and then one poor sap is yanked _from the team_ and thrown under the bus? I presume so. If so, is there a way to incorporate this sense of “excommunication” (for want of a better word) into a sparkly new German expression? j ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8112 "2022-12-14T18:49:49Z")
I recall reading a very old SciFi story which, ISTM, contained the first reference to what we now call a cellphone. The term used in that story for the phone is _handphone_. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8113 "2022-12-14T19:13:32Z")
Exkobussieren? Schubskommubussieren? Schubsexkommubussieren? Schubskommuexbussieren? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8114 "2022-12-14T19:15:35Z")
I speak _a little_ German. So I’ll just nod and smile. Nervously. j 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8115 "2022-12-14T19:17:11Z")
He’d have a genuine basis for a lawsuit – against himself. He could represent both sides! ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8116 "2022-12-14T19:41:05Z")
as i understand it, and checked with a coworker about it… the bus is coming at you, and you fling someone to the bus to be able to avoid the bus. using a trump example, the justice department is coming at him for the documents at mar a lago. he has at various times thrown various people at the department to buy him time or to divert the department. the movers packed the boxes, the white house aides packed the boxes, it was chaotic, i don’t know who did what, my lawyers dealt with it. the doj bus keeps getting closer and closer. now that i am thinking about it… it could be “bus sacrifice” or “speed bump” related. cannon fodder? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8117 "2022-12-14T19:47:46Z")
He gets his cue from Jake Blues. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ftt4f2H3GDs/hqdefault.jpg "Blues Brothers Tunnel Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftt4f2H3GDs) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8118 "2022-12-14T20:14:41Z")
I still like my “Kuhfängerfutter” (cow-catcher-fodder). To mine American ears, it has a poetic sound to it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8119 "2022-12-14T20:25:52Z")
The Germans already have another great word, suitable for the former President and some, if not all, of his adoring followers: [Word of the Week: Backpfeifengesicht – @GermanyinUSA](https://germanyinusa.com/2019/02/22/word-of-the-week-backpfeifengesicht/#:~:text=Well%2C%20Germans%20have%20a%20unique,and%20Gesicht%20means%20%E2%80%9Cface%E2%80%9D). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8120 "2022-12-14T20:29:25Z")
That’s a perfectly cromulent word for Trump, but I prefer Hackfresse. It has much more oomph. > **[Urban Dictionary: Hackfresse](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hackfresse)** > > The german word for a man or woman who is really ugly as night. The association is that "hack" means that the face ( german slang: Fresse) looks like been chopped by a mixer. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8121 "2022-12-14T21:03:51Z")
I think the first time I remember hearing about someone being thrown under the bus was during Watergate. One of Nixon’s guys, I don’t remember which (Colson, Liddy? one of those) was caught on tape saying he would throw his grandmother under a bus if that’s what it took to get Nixon re-elected. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8122 "2022-12-14T21:11:10Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > saying he would throw his grandmother under a bus if that’s what it took to get Nixon re-elected. Not quite. It was Charles Colson, but he said that he would “walk over my own grandmother” to ensure the reelection of Tricky Dick. That’s according to the Washington Post. > **[Charles Colson, Nixon’s ‘dirty tricks’ man, dies at 80](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whitehouse/chuck-colson-nixons-dirty-tricks-man-dies-at-80/2012/04/21/gIQAaoOHYT_story.html)** > > The Republican political operative who boasted he would “walk over my own grandmother” to ensure the reelection of President Richard Nixon went on to found a worldwide prison fellowship ministry after his conversion to evangelical Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8123 "2022-12-14T21:15:55Z")
I wonder whether his granny was still alive when he said that. Walk over a grave is no big deal in my book. And if she was, what he got for Christmas from her. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8124 "2022-12-14T21:28:06Z")
Thanks. I guess the memory is the second thing to go. If I could only remember what the first was … ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8125 "2022-12-14T21:31:06Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I guess the memory is the second thing to go. Well, I will confess that I looked it up because I thought you got the quote right, but I didn’t think it was either Colson or Liddy. So my memory is also on the way out. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8126 "2022-12-14T21:37:48Z")
Poor ol’ Kevin: > **[McCarthy's impossible GOP math | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/politics/kevin-mccarthy-speakership-battle-analysis/index.html)** > > Political leaders are generally at their strongest the moment they take office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=405) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=407)